Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Biden vows to aid Afghan helpers
Planning in works to evacuate translators while visas finished
President Joe Biden vowed Thursday that Afghans who helped the U.S. military “are not going to be left behind” as his administration stepped up planning to evacuate thousands of Afghan interpreters while their applications for U.S. entry are processed.
A senior administration official said planning has accelerated in recent days to move the Afghans and their families to other countries or U.S. territories while their visa applications are sorted. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the unannounced plans.
Separately, U. S. officials told The Associated Press on Thursday that roughly 650 U.S. troops are expected to remain in Afghanistan to provide security for diplomats after the main American military force completes its withdrawal — which is set to be largely done in the next two weeks, well before Biden’s Sept. 11 deadline.
In addition, several hundred American troops will remain at the Kabul airport, potentially until September, until a Turkey-led security operation is in place, the officials said.
Overall, officials said the U.S. expects to have American and coalition military command, its leadership and most troops out by July Fourth, or shortly after that, meeting an aspirational deadline that commanders developed months ago.
The officials were not authorized to discuss details of the withdrawal and spoke on condition of anonymity.
The administration intends to carry out the evacuation of Afghans who helped the U.S. later this summer, likely in August, according to an official familiar with the deliberations but not authorized to discuss them publicly.
Officials added that the administration has not settled on a country or countries for the planned temporary relocation. Evacuating Afghans to a U.S. territory is seen as complicated because it could lead to the visa applicants having greater legal rights as they are vetted. Asked if he had determined where Afghans would be moved as they await U.S. visas, Biden said he did not know.
“They’re going to come,” Biden said in an exchange with reporters. “We’ve already begun the process. Those who helped us are not going to be left behind.”
The White House has begun briefing lawmakers on the outlines of the plans. The evacuation planning could potentially affect tens of thousands of Afghans. Some 9,000 Afghans who worked for the U.S.— plus their family members — are already in the application pipeline for special immigrant visas.
The administration has come under increased pressure from lawmakers, veterans and others to evacuate thousands of Afghans who worked as interpreters or who otherwise helped U.S. military operations there in the past two decades. The Biden administration and U.S. military officials have spoken carefully about relocation — and largely sidestepped talk of a mass evacuation — over growing concerns about the precarious security situation for the Afghanistan government in the face of diminished U.S. military presence. In part, U.S. officials have been concerned that word of an evacuation could trigger a panic in Afghanistan, not to mention further complicate the present security situation.
The Taliban issued a statement earlier this month saying those who worked for U.S. and Western interests would not be targeted. But the runaway corruption, deep insecurity and fear of violence from the Taliban and the many heavily armed U.S.-allied warlords have many Afghans seeing the special immigration visas as their last chance to leave the war-tortured nation.
The move to accelerate plans to relocate Afghans comes as Biden is set to meet today with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation.
Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said on Twitter the evacuation plan was “great news” but urged Biden to push his effort to “secure a safe 3rd country to host them into high gear.”
Rep. Seth Moulton, D-Mass., on Thursday unveiled a detailed plan supported by veterans that would use Guam as a way station as the Afghans go through the visa application process. “We don’t want a single Afghan ally to die because we can’t find a third country or the program is moving too slowly,” he said.
Khalil Arab, who spent five years working for the coalition forces as an interpreter, fled Afghanistan in 2010 after receiving threats from the Taliban. His younger brother, who also was a translator, was nearly kidnapped. Both are in the U.S. now, but they fear for those left behind.
“Every Afghan ally, every man and woman serving for the United States government under whatever capacity, whatever their title, they are in peril,” Arab said. “Make no mistake. Time is running out.”